Sonos confirms some missing details about Arc Ultra – and says its app now has 90% of its missing features back
DA Gadgets When
Sonos
unveiled
the
Sonos
Arc
Ultra
soundbar
earlier
this
week,
we
had
a
few
questions.
And
now
we
have
the
answers.
In
particular,
we’ve
confirmation
about
the
Arc
Ultra’s
Dolby
Atmos
channels,
its
current
stance
on
DTS,
and
its
HDMI
ports
–
and
we’ve
had
an
update
on
the
status
of
the
app.
The
first
questions
was
around
its
channel
count,
which
is
officially
given
as
9.1.4.
The
last
number
there
is
the
relevant
part
–
it
means
four
height
channels
for
Dolby
Atmos.
However,
the
Arc
Ultra’s
specs
say
it
has
two
upfiring
drivers,
so
we
wanted
to
get
Sonos’
official
line
on
how
two
turns
into
four.
Sonos
confirmed
that
are
indeed
two
up-firing
drivers,
but
the
way
they
work
with
the
rest
of
the
soundbar
makes
them
act
like
there
are
actually
four
upwards
firing
speakers
–
at
least
in
theory.
“The
rear
height
arrays
utilize
a
very
strategic
combination
of
the
upfiring,
outward
firing
and
forward
firing
transducers
to
position
it
deeper
in
the
room
than
the
front
height
channels,”
the
company
said
–
so
basically,
it’ll
offer
virtual
rear
height
channels.
However
effective
this
is
remains
to
be
seen.
Checking
the
disappointments
There
were
two
potential
disappointments
about
the
Sonos
Arc
Ultra,
but
that
weren’t
explicit
from
Sonos’
information
and
specs,
so
we
also
asked
to
confirm
that
a)
it
only
has
one
HDMI
eARC
port,
and
no
passthrough,
and
b)
that
there
is
still
no
DTS
support.
In
both
cases,
what
we
expect
was
confirmed.
Sonos’
long-standing
line
on
DTS
hasn’t
changed
–
it
will
consider
adding
new
formats
in
the
future,
but
nothing
is
planned
–
and
there
is
just
a
single
HDMI
port.
That’s
very
unusual
among
the
best
soundbars
now:
all
the
major
premium
competition
considers
at
least
one
HDMI
passthrough
as
the
bare
minimum.
A
lot
of
people
today
need
more
flexibility
in
their
connection,
because
they
have
a
high
number
of
boxes
to
connect
to
their
TV.
The
Samsung
HW-Q990D
soundbar
actually
adds
to
the
number
of
ports
you
have
available.
The
Sonos
Arc
Ultra
leaves
you
with
one
fewer.
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and
more.
How’s
the
app
going?
According
to
CEO
Patrick
Spence,
the
app
is
90%
back
to
normal
since
its
troubled
update.
“We’ve
worked
tirelessly
to
address
the
most
critical
app
issues
and
reintroduce
the
most
requested
legacy
features.
We’ve
now
reached
a
level
of
quality
that
gives
us
the
confidence
to
release
our
exciting
new
products,”
he
said
in
a
statement.
“As
outlined
in
our
commitments,
we
will
continue
to
improve
the
software
regularly
and
are
determined
to
make
the
Sonos
experience
better
than
ever.”
Sonos
continues
to
provide
app
update
timescales
on
its
support
page;
the
to-do
list
for
late
October
includes:
Improving
system
setup
and
reliability
of
adding
new
products
Improved
volume
control
&
responsiveness
(iOS)
Music
library
performance
improvements
(iOS)
Improving
overall
system
stability
and
error
handling
Support
for
Arc
Ultra
and
Sub
4
And
the
mid-November
update
will
deliver:
Playlist
editing
Support
for
Android
users
with
multiple
homes
User
Interface
improvements
(based
on
your
feedback)
Improved
music
playback
error
handling
Those
plans
are
for
both
the
iOS
and
Android
versions
of
the
Sonos
app.
The
Android
app
will
also
get
“improved
volume
control
&
responsiveness”
in
a
December
update.
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